VGF - Which use year for an after thanksgiving stay?

[DisneyFam2326]

Hello - we are very interested in buying into VGF - we visit family every year for thanksgiving in FL and then take our two kids (ages 1 & 3.5) to Disney after thanksgiving (usually arriving the Saturday or Sunday after). What I don't quite understand is what use year I would want to choose for this? We are pretty certain that this will be an annual tradition for our family! Thanks so much for your help any guidance is truly appreciated!

 

[Jwaire]

August, September or October, Avoid December like the plague

 

[Sandisw]

The ideal UY is one that starts shortly before your trip. Since you know you have a specific time you want to travel each year, getting a Fall UY gives the most flexibility if you ever have to cancel or change a trip.

When you travel near the beginning of a UY, you still have time to bank points, and a longer time to rebook the trip if you have banked/borrowed points.

As mentioned, avoid a Dec UY since it gives you no time to use up points. I might even say Feb/March are not ideal either....

Not that anyone plans to cancel or change a trip, but things happen....sometimes out of our control (can you say resort closure in 2020)...so having as much time as possible to use up your points just gives you that extra bit of insurance if you ever do need it!

 

[Flash_Sloth]

Yes, good advice. With the information you presented, definitely avoid December UY because you'll begin your trips in November most years. There is not a Nov. UY, so I'd recommend picking October UY.

Maybe a good question to ask yourself is what other time of year would you be most likely to book a WDW trip in case your post-Thanksgiving trip gets canceled or there isn't availability? Those back-up plans might impact what UY to choose, especially if you might be traveling in late summer or early fall.

 

[sndral]

Agree on avoiding a Dec. use year, I have a Dec. use year & the most recent two trips we booked started just after Thanksgiving & continued into Dec. - it’s a pain, you have to call MS to book your Dec. days at 11 months because you’re crossing use years & you want to book right at 11 months for very popular early Dec. especially if you want to grab a hard to get villa/view. If you book your Nov. days online you’ve blocked anyone from getting your Dec. days while you wait an hour for the phone lines to open so MS can book your Dec. days for you, but it’s a hassle, especially when MS hold times are long.
I also find figuring out which use year points are being used for the Nov. days v. the Dec. days & which points I need to bank/borrow to which use year to be challenging when my trip falls into two use years.

 

[pinkxray]

We usually travel the week after Thanksgiving. I picked Oct for our use year and have been really happy with it. The only downside is if you ever want to add on resale points it is harder to find contracts with Oct.

 

[ehh]

Agree on avoiding a Dec. use year, I have a Dec. use year & the most recent two trips we booked started just after Thanksgiving & continued into Dec. - it’s a pain, you have to call MS to book your Dec. days at 11 months because you’re crossing use years & you want to book right at 11 months for very popular early Dec. especially if you want to grab a hard to get villa/view. If you book your Nov. days online you’ve blocked anyone from getting your Dec. days while you wait an hour for the phone lines to open so MS can book your Dec. days for you, but it’s a hassle, especially when MS hold times are long.
I also find figuring out which use year points are being used for the Nov. days v. the Dec. days & which points I need to bank/borrow to which use year to be challenging when my trip falls into two use years.

For all the talk about how much of a risk it is to travel just before a UY (and it is!), that only comes up if plans change/ things go wrong.

What @sndral describes is also a real hassle to deal with even when things go right. Booking across a UY is a crummy process and something to avoid all by itself.

 

[MsChristy12]

We usually travel the week after Thanksgiving. I picked Oct for our use year and have been really happy with it. The only downside is if you ever want to add on resale points it is harder to find contracts with Oct.

Agreed!! I have an April UY for our first contract, and I wanted to find an April for our add-on to match, it's nearly impossible! So I changed it to October, because that would work for us too but it's still difficult to find Oct. (slightly better than April). April, Sept, Oct are probably the hardest ones to find.